Jiri Lehecka has warned his giant-killing run on the Australian Open is “not over” after reserving a spot within the quarter-finals with a shocking upset of Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The unseeded Czech fought again from a set down and held his nerve within the deciding tiebreaker to finish a shock 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) victory over the sixth seed on Sunday.
“Honestly, it feels amazing,” Lehecka mentioned.
“It’s tough for me to find some words because what we’ve been through last year (losing in the first round) and now coming back to Australia, if somebody had told me before the tournament that I would play like this, I wouldn’t believe him.
“I’m tremendous completely satisfied that I’m by way of and, yeah, excited.”
World No.71 Lehecka had never previously won a match at a grand slam in four attempts.
But the 21-year-old has now knocked out seeded rivals Borna Coric (21), Cameron Norrie (11) and Auger-Aliassime, as well as American wildcard Christopher Eubanks.
Next, he takes on third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who outlasted Jannik Sinner 6-4 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 in a gruelling four-hour battle.
“The run shouldn’t be over,” Lehecka mentioned.
“All the fellows I beat over right here, all of them are unimaginable gamers.
“I must have played my best tennis and showed all the cards to beat them.
“Coric within the first spherical, Eubanks within the second spherical after which Norrie and now Felix, I imply, it sounds loopy nevertheless it’s true.
“I’m very happy and so excited to continue the journey.”
Karen Khachanov can be by way of to the quarter-finals, having continued his grand slam renaissance with a straight-sets mauling of Yoshihito Nishioka.
Khachanov gained the primary 14 video games of the match en path to a 6-0 6-0 7-6 (7-4) victory over the Japanese thirty first seed.
“First two sets I didn’t know what was going on but it’s never easy when you are going with a score too easy,” the world No.20 mentioned.
“You feel it and then at one point Yoshi tried to turn it around, he pumped the crowd and it’s normal.
“So I attempted to remain targeted all of the match from the start nevertheless it’s not simple to win with this rating, three straight units. So the third set was a very robust one.”
The quarter-final conqueror of Nick Kyrgios at last year’s US Open, Khachanov has rediscovered the form that thrust him into the world’s top 10 four years ago.
With 15 aces and 30 winners, the big-serving Russian ultimately needed less than two hours to progress and book a last-eight clash on Tuesday with rising American Sebastian Korda.
Korda knocked out 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz in a five-set thriller, prevailing 3-6 6-3 6-2 1-6 7-6 (10-7).
It was the fifth match in the men’s tournament decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker.
Korda rattled off six straight points during the tiebreaker to build a 7-3 lead but lost the next four points as Hurkacz levelled.
The 29th seed eventually closed it out on his own serve, later revealing an unusual secret to his success throughout the rollercoaster finish.
“I obtained slightly superstitious with the towel. The towel obtained me by way of it,” he mentioned.
“Every time I went to the towel, I gained the purpose. So I simply stored going to it.”
The win propelled Korda into his first grand slam quarter-final and franked the 22-year-old’s kind after a straight-sets conquer seventh seed Daniil Medvedev within the third spherical.
